SXSW: Gold Fields Show How Friendship Translates into Stage Presence

The five Aussies who make up Gold Fields—frontman Mark Robert Fuller, guitarist Vin Andanar, keyboardist Rob Clifton, bassist Luke Peldys, and drummer Ryan D'Sylva—look like they stepped out of a The CW TV series. But beyond their puppy eyes, tousled hair, and charming Australian accents, the group of friends know how to seriously rock out onstage, as they proved at the Frye Days SXSW 2013 showcase at Buffalo Billiards. We first spotted them during CMJ 2012 in NYC and we then premiered an exclusive video of the making of their song, "Dark Again (Lights Out)", which stars Alexander McQueen and Givenchy model, Shaun Ross. Now that their album Black Sun just premiered in the U.S., we predict the group will grow an even larger American fan base. We grabbed Fuller before his SXSW set (during which the crew erupted in a full-out, onstage dance party) to chat about his first trip to Texas, his style, and the authenticity of their stage presence.

On his first trip to the "dirty South": I've never heard it referred to as the "dirty South." I like it. It is dirty, dusty, and fun. It sort of reminds me of the dusty areas of our country Australia, as well. And the people are very similar to a lot of Australian people, as well. Down here, it's pretty relaxed. Everyone seems like they don't have a lot to worry about. It's nice to get to a place that, even though the most hectic music festival in the entire world is going on, everyone seems like they're relaxing and having a good time.

On performing at SXSW: "It's definitely different having to play during the day. We're not used to that at all. Generally at night, people in the crowd are in the mood to enjoy themselves a lot more; whereas during the daytime, it's just the human condition to be a little more structured and focused. During the day you have people coming out and probably judging you as a band—looking at your musicianship. It is a fantastic and great thing, which makes us feel like, 'Aw, we're going to try harder.' It makes us actually play rather than just go nuts."

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On making the crowd go wild: "That's the thing, we never go out of our way to make the crowd any more enthused. We see a lot of bands play and sort of look like they're trying to trick the crowd into enjoying themselves. You know, by saying, 'Everyone put your hands in the air,' and talking to the crowd to get this fake crowd interaction. I guess it's a big part of trying to entertain groups of people, but at the same time we're more into just getting up and just having as much fun as we possibly can. Because we don't try and lure people in, it might take an extra song or two, but usually by the end of our set, people seem to be enjoying themselves. I think as long as we're having fun and we're happy, people can have fun as well—that's a bonus."

On their sound: "I'd describe it as pop music but written by people who are influenced by alternative music. We try and make it a dance show. Our favorite experiences with music ever have been at music festivals. We try and create the whole dance festival vibe when we play live. I would absolutely love to be able to describe Gold Fields as a dance thing. So, I will."

On their fashion style: "It's about expressing yourself. Since we try to make our shows a dance party, we want people to come and feel 100 percent comfortable in themselves. So when we're onstage in front of everybody, we don't want to give anybody any sort of guidance of what they should be doing. We don't want to set any sort of trend. We just dress as neutral as we possibly can. We literally try to blend into the smoke on the stage as much as we possibly can and just have music there for people to come and do whatever they want and have the best time. We probably just try and hide as much as we possibly can."

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On performing with his childhood friends: "It's pretty strange, I've been mates with these guys since high school. I was playing in bands with Ben, I never expected for the other guys to be playing in a band with me and touring. When the band started, it felt like I was just hanging out with my mates and driving around the country with them. We're definitely friends more so than we are bandmates."

On what's next for Gold Fields: "We have three or four months left of touring in the States. Our first album, Black Sun, just came out a few weeks ago in America. So we've been building up to this point, and now it's finally out. We're just touring it and giving it as much as much wings as it possibly can grow, and then by the end of the year, we'll start writing our second album."

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